1. In 1916, Manfred von Richthofen was considered a below average pilot who crashed during his first flight. Two years and 80 aerial kills later upon his death, the British buried The Red Baron with full military honors out of respect for his skill as an aviator. – Source
2. The San Francisco Giants eradicated their Seagull problem with a Red Tailed Hawk named “Bruce Lee.” – Source
3. Japan has a lifetime employment system where large companies hire regular employees right out of school and keep them until retirement. New employees are chosen for their general potential and not because of any special skills or training. Such employees are considered the company’s human capital, to be trained, cultivated, and assigned to posts in the company’s best interest. – Source
4. On July 1, 1916 at the Battle of the Somme (WW1), a charge of 60,000 lbs. of explosives was detonated creating a crater that was 300 feet across and 90 feet deep. The explosion, which occurred in France, could be heard as far away as London and was the loudest man made sound in history at the time. – Source
5. The $100 bill has almost surpassed the $1 bill as the most common US currency denomination in the world. – Source
6. The Schengen Area is the area comprising 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their common borders, essentially functioning as one country as far as travel. – Source
7. Hangovers are not caused by dehydration, but from acetaldehyde which is a product of the metabolism of ethanol and is also toxic. – Source
8. A brain disease that devastated communities in Papua New Guinea spread because people ate their dead family members’ brains in ritual cannibalism. People who didn’t die from the disease have a genetic mutation that blocks it. – Source
9. A bridge built in 2003 in Northern Costa Rica is colloquially known as “Backstab Bridge”. It was paid for, designed and built by Taiwan only for Costa Rica to cut off ties with Taiwan in favor of China. – Source
10. Three men were arrested for attempting to steal Elvis Presley’s remains for ransom. This is why his body, along with his mother’s, was moved to Graceland where they are monitored by security. – Source
11. Over a period of 200 years, 3 ships perished at the same location of the coast of Wales, on the same day (December 5th) and all three had only one survivor. The 3 survivors all had the same name: Hugh Williams. – Source
12. Google’s homepage is so simple because when it was created, neither Larry Page nor Sergey Brin knew much of HTML – Source
13. Nicolas Cage won China’s ‘Best Global Actor’ award in 2013 – Source
14. Polk County, Wisconsin has used cheese brine to de-ice roads since 2009, more effectively than rock salt. – Source
15. President Garfield had the ability to write in two languages simultaneously, Greek with one hand and Latin with the other. – Source
16. Due to the massive success and popularity of Eminem’s “Stan”, the Oxford Dictionary made a definition of “Stan” – ‘an obsessive fan of a particular celebrity’. – Source
17. Due to the above reason, the SR-71 only had enough fuel to take off and then got filled up in the air by an air tanker. – Source
18. Jousting is the official state sport of Maryland – Source
19. The Grand Canyon has an attraction called Skywalk which is a transparent horseshoe-shaped cantilever bridge that extends past the lip of the canyon, allowing you to see a 500-800ft vertical drop directly below your feet. – Source
20. Mary Poppins, author P.L. Travers hated the film Adaption of her book so much that she spent most of the premiere crying and refused to let Disney touch the rest of the series. – Source
21. Stilton blue cheese has been found to frequently cause odd, vivid dreams. – Source
22. The Chinese city of Guangzhou had no subway whatsoever 20 years ago. Today, its subway system has 231 stations and is 191 miles/390 km long. It is today the world’s fourth busiest metro system, beating New York’s, London’s, Moscow’s and Paris’ in terms of ridership. – Source
23. There’s a charity in the UK called The Lucy Faithfull Foundation that aims to treat paedophiles before they offend. – Source
24. American soldiers in the Vietnam War so detested the “Ham & Lima Beans” ration, that it became deemed bad luck to say the ration’s proper name, opting instead to call it “Ham and moth*****kers.” – Source
25. In 1982, as a protest against actions by the United States federal government, Key West in Florida seceded from and then declared war on the United States, surrendered one minute later and then applied for one billion dollars in foreign aid. – Source
26. The Chinese are twice as willing to purchase products “Made in America” than Chinese products. – Source
27. The “ZIP” in ZIP Code is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, a name given because mail would not only travel more efficiently but also because the mail would comparatively zip right to your address. – Source
28. When Eminem heard “Ice Ice Baby” for the first time, he felt like he didn’t want to rap anymore. – Source
29. In 2012, a 6-year-old girl in Georgia threw a temper tantrum so extreme that she was handcuffed and taken to jail from her kindergarten class. – Source
30. A single living vulture is valued at $11,000 based on the ecosystem services they provide by ridding the environment of carcasses that would otherwise spread diseases and cause economic consequences. – Source
